AI serving the digitally neglected
“I’m just thrilled that someone is paying attention to my department.”
I was speaking with a department head recently about potential AI use cases. Her enthusiasm was palpable.
Image: Gemini
“I’m so excited to talk about this,” she said. I asked why.
“I’m just thrilled that someone is paying attention to my department.”
Her team handles contractual administration—a workflow that’s highly manual, document-heavy, and traditionally resistant to automation. For years, technology solutions were too generic or too expensive to make sense for her niche function.
Her situation highlights a massive, overlooked opportunity.
While we chase flagship AI projects, entire departments have been operating with manual processes because the economics of software never worked for them. AI fundamentally changes the capabilities and math.
How?
- It brings new, needed functionality. For example, what once required a multi-million dollar ML model to interpret documents is now an out-of-the-box capability.
- It makes niche apps affordable. Neglected by SaaS vendors in the past, building personalized applications for small, vertical teams is no longer a massive capital expense.
- It simplifies the user interface. Natural language removes the friction of training and support.
The imperative for CEOs and CAIOs is clear. Don’t just look for the big, revolutionary wins. Look for the teams that have been left behind by the last 20 years of technology.
That’s where you’ll find incredible, untapped value.